KTM 690 DUKE (2012 - 2015) Review

A perfectly balanced small rocket that does exactly what a motorcycle should do - like a robust dirt bike for the streets. It works just fine in the gravel as well.

Small gem

No fault whatsoever, everything works as it should. Gets a little hot in hot weather stuck in traffic scenarios, which is not a huge problem since it´s easy avoided.

Easy to service yourself, it is a farm tractor after all...

It´s a dirt bike for the streets.

Only for 1 person as it is a bit on the smaller side.. But you are not buying this for somebody else, only yourself.

Grunty, like an old farm tractor on steroids

No problems what so ever, no rust, no fault.

Maybe not the easiest to service but fun, it´s like MTB, fiddly but robust..

What equipment?

For the roads I ride on it is ideal for my purposes, on twisty B roads I can keep up with V4 Panigales under track day regulars, in fact the worse the road the better, bumps and jumps are well within this bikes capabilities the only thing lacking is my nerve. High speed motorway riding is a strain on the arms and neck due to the upright riding position, but I steer clear of straight roads so it's no problem to me. I get around 130 miles a tankfull so need to stop every 2-3 hours to top up which is well timed as I am not as young as I used to be.

This engine pulls well when above 3000 rpm. Below that, when tootling around town it can be jerky for the heavy handed. When out on the open road it comes alive, and above 5000 rpm is where the sweet spot is, the only criticism is that the gear ratios might be to close, but that might be my riding style.

It is nearly seven years old so as you'd expect there is light rusting on a few forward facing torx fixings. Everything else is pretty mint. The build quality is good and all is solid and shiny for its age. 500 miles after I bought it secondhand (3300 miles) the main nut that holds the clutch basket broke it's locking tab and unscrewed itself, this was fixed under retailers warranty very quickly (1 or 2 days) and no problem since, even with spirited riding (thanks to Penrith motorcycles).

Rear tyres last 2500-3000 miles Michelin pro pilot, front isn't far off done at just under 6000. Have not had a service done yet as have only owned it 7 months.

My favourite feature of the standard bike is the great handling and grip. It doesn't have a fuel guage which can be a worry when fifty miles away from a town in the Cumbrian fells, I once had to travel 25 miles at 35mph in high gear to get to a petrol pump when the fuel light came on.

Ride, handling and stopping superb

Loads of pickup grunt, I bit few vibes if in too low a gear, buy great B road performance.

Apart from a poor finish on the tank it's been excellent

Do the service myself, dead easy and a new rear tyre every other year

Not much in the way of equipment, but who cares

This bike is mental

Great for wheelies

Only had it 4 months so most of it in lockdown 😢

Sips fuel compared to my usual 1000 sportsbikes

Super moto mode

Fantastic handling and brakes, good for distance and pillion work, easy a few hours before a break for fuel. Not bad on a track day either.

Great pickup and mid range punch

Slight bubbling in tank top

Service it myself, quite easy to work on

Not bad for tech and equipment

It's not too bad on the motorway, which is impressive for a single cylinder but it's amazingly good fun everywhere else. It does vibrate quite bit around 4000rpm, might be a bit of a shock if you're coming from smooth a 4 cylinder bike, but I was always having so much fun on the Duke that I wouldn't notice after a short while. It was never vibrating so bad that body parts went numb or I lost some teeth. It's a traffic destroyer, it's happy in the urban environment, it's like taking a small child to a huge toy store, the Duke doesn't see traffic, it sees a challenge, a small gap and tells you to go for it, it makes you a confident rider and takes city life in it's stride. Out on the tight twisty roads it floats along, out does more powerful but heavier bikes, down a few gears and the slipper takes over, the fly by wire throttle is like some sort of neural implant that's make you feel at one with the bike, you look where you want to go and you're there and the instantaneous torque leaves other riders struggling to keep up.

For what it is, a single cylinder 690cc engine, I have to give it a 5. You expect a single to give you nice amount of bottom end power and this engine does just that, it also has a great mid range punch and well at 70bhp it isn't too bad up the top either. It does well on the motorway at 70mph, I thought it would be a struggle but the engine is pretty happy there and you can chug this engine to hell, I.E be in say 3rd gear at 20mph and it sounds like it wants to stall, twist throttle and it's pulling like a train without delay. It also doesn't drink much, even though the tank is pretty small you can go pretty far, I reckon anywhere between 45 and 65 mpg is normal, depends on your right hand. It's a wonderful thing.

Mirror snapped off when riding, they use the same cheap mirrors on their 390 for a £8k bike. Powder coating on the frame is quite badly done, some locations it's not smooth, weak power coating in other locations so it's quite easy to scratch. A detent arm, which selects the gears has been an issue for many years with the LC4 engine, yet KTM didn't bother to address the issue, you have to buy a factory pro detent kit from the USA to cure the problem because KTM won't. The quality parts are the ones that KTM buys from other manufactures, Brembo calipers for example. Mine never let me down or any reliability issues.

It could get pretty expensive, these engines need a valve check every 6000 miles, if you can't do that yourself, that's going to be expensive. It is an easy job to do if you're confident, if not, and you're going to be doing a lot of miles each year, best to give your nearest KTM dealer a call and see what it's going to cost. Other than valve adjustment/check it was pretty bog standard stuff, oil filter, engine oil, check pads etc You can get Hi flow filters and other brands, the KTM branded stuff is 2/3 times the price.

Abs Slipper clutch Brembo calipers Hydraulic clutch WP suspension Fly by wire throttle Switchable engine maps Marchesini wheels I have to admit that's a nice line up, the Brembo front brake is amazing and the slipper clutch also, those are my 2 favorite features of this bike when it comes to equipment. A fuel gauge would be nice, all street bikes should have one. I'd say the standard exhaust restricts the bike a lot, I think it's due to those dictators in Brussels, the leaders of the eu and their emission laws, getting rid of the catalytic (cat) converter would be a good start oh and a factory pro detent arm for perfect shifting, that's a must! KTM engine bars a nicely made, not sure how well they perform in there intended application but protecting the Duke should be a priority in my opinion.

It does vibrate a bit, more so about 4000rpm but you get used to this pretty quickly. You wouldn't want to spend too long on a large, fast open (70mph+) road for long as you'll get blown all over the place. For the city or A roads the ride quality is confidence inspiring, the Duke is a very light, agile bike with plenty of torque and really good brakes, even though the front is single disc, it does a great job, to the point where I was using the front brake in slow traffic because it's that flexible and easy to regulate. I couldn't imagine a bike that's this much fun in traffic, it destroys traffic.

Great single cylinder, pulls in every gear and even has a decent amount of top end thanks to around 70hp. It's a superb engine.

I believe the LC4 engine has been around for a while now and still KTM didn't fix the detent arm on gear shifter/gearbox, so it often does false neutrals, 4th to 5th and 5th to 6th, not acceptable on a bike of this price. Going on to an A road and you end up coasting in neutral, it's dangerous. Some of the powder coating seems extremely weak, my mirror clamps on the handle bars, the paint just fell off of those and certain parts of the orange frame, the lower parts were not smoothly painted, also my RH mirror snapped whilst doing 70mph. It's all a bit hit and miss.

It's a single cylinder so valve checks are every 6k! Which could be expensive if you can't do them yourself, it needs oil and filter every 3000 miles, I didn't own the bike for 3000 miles worth of riding so couldn't come up with a price. I didn't fancy doing valve checks every few months!

I love the slipper clutch, just helps with confidence going down the gear box and also the hydraulic clutch makes slow speed riding and congested conditions a breeze. The ride by wire throttle is superb as well and ABS as standard is always nice, you can turn if off. Get rid of the catalytic converter, it restricts this bike so much!

Great in town and on twisty roads. Tiresome on longer journeys due to lack of wind protection. Seat is very comfortable and riding position is good.

Perfomance is strong and torquey. 8000rpm redline is a bit low and engine vibrates, especially above 5000rpm.

Well built. No problems thus far.

Part of the bike's character is the lack of equipment weighing it down. So personally I wouldn't spec it up, except for a performance exhaust. Standard exhaust is very muted. Standard tyres are very grippy and if treated with respect, gives good mileage too.

Having riden this machine on my own and also being pillion on this bike, I can say that it is very comfy and the sitting position is good for all around views of the road ahead. Brakes are good and responsive.

As it is a single cylinder engine, the power appears almost instantaneously once you open the throttle - something that takes a bit of getting used to if you've never rode a single before! Great for bimbling along in traffic to and from work, and even on the motorway it is very comfortable and will not struggle to maintain motorway speeds.

Good quality build, no corrosion to speak of.

The bike as standard is an overall great machine. I have added the Engine Bars and some Hand Guards (Both Orange!!) and would fully recommend both of those. The Engine Bars will protect the majority of the bodywork should you drop it and the Hand Guards allow you to be seen more by other road users as well as protect your hands from the harsh weather we sometimes have!